Overview:

 -The 1^st International Conference on Sustainability: Environmental Efficiency For Human Well Being (EBQL), which was held under the patronage of Prof. Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Education and Scientific Research in Egypt, and Mr. Mohamed Farid Khamis, Founder of El Shorouk Academy and the main sponsor of this conference. EBQL was organized by The Higher Institute of Engineering in El-Shorouk Academy in cooperation with the League of Arab States, The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), The Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI), and The Center for Environment and Development for The Arab Region in Europe (CEDARE).

- EBQL was held from the 13^th to the 15^th of December at JW Marriott Hotel Cairo, Egypt. It was chaired by Prof. Gouda Mohamed Ghanem (Vice Chairman of El Shorouk Academy– Egypt), and was organized by IEREK.

- The conference was held over 3 days, where the first day included 3 plenary sessions containing 10 lectures. The following 2 days included 10 scientific sessions and 6 specialized sessions. The attendees were around 250 people from 16 countries.

- The conference was held to reflect the new visions of dealing with sustainable development issues to improve the quality of life, promote prosperity for all, and preserve and sustain natural resources for future generations.

Opening Session and welcome speech

The opening session and welcome speech started with a documentary about El Shorouk Academy, followed by a speech by Prof. Gouda Mohamed Ghanem, the Vice Chairman of El Shorouk Academy & the Conference Chairman and another speech by General Dr. Ahmed Sayed Abdelreheem - Chairman of El Shorouk Academy.

Following that was the speech by Dr. Mourad Amer, IEREK’s CEO and founder, who spoke about IEREK’s services and advancement. Prof. Rob Roggema, who is a Professor of Sustainable Spatial Transformations at Hanz University, then spoke about smart & sustainable cities and the future of having both.

Other speakers in the opening session were:

- Ambassador Sha Zukang- Former UN Under-Secretary-General

- Dr. Bassem Fahmy- Representative of the manager of the regional office for Arab countries in the United Nations programme for human settlements.

- Dr. Abdullah Alsubil- Representative and general manager deputy of the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI).

- Ambassador Dr. Kamal Hassan Aly - Representative of secretary general and the assistant secretary general of the economic sector at the League of Arab States.

- Prof. Dr. Nadia Makram Ebeid, Executive Director of the Centre for Environment & Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE).

- Mr. Mohamed Farid Khamis.

- Prof. Dr. Amr Ezzat Salama- Secertary General of the Union of Egyptian Universities.

- Prof. Dr. Mohamed Shaker Elmarkaby - Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy.

- Prof. Dr. Khaled Abdelghaffar - Minister of Higher Education and scientific research.

Sessions:

The conference was divided into 4 axes:

The first axis: Water and Sewage Service

The second axis: New And Renewable Energies.

The third axis: Climate change and its effects

The fourth axis: Sustainable and Safe Human Cities and settlements

Every axis included sessions, and each one had its moderators and reporters.

The moderators of the axes were:

- Prof. Dr. Mohamed  Abdelsalam

- Prof. Dr. Eman Elazzazy

- Prof. Dr. Mohammed Saffiudin

- Prof. Dr. Elmoataz Youssef

- Prof. Dr. Magda Ekram

- Associate Professor/ Sherif Elwan

- Prof. Dr. Khaled Dwidar

- Prof. Dr. Raafat Shemis

Plenary Sessions:

Session 1: Water and sewage services- new and renewable energies

Session 2: Climate Change and its Effects

Session 3: Sustainable and Safe Human Cities and Settlements

The sessions were professionally moderated by:

Session 1:

- Prof. Hussein Elatfy - Vice president of the Arab Water Council

- Prof. Mohamed Abdelsalam Ashour

- Eng. Ehab Ismaeil Amin – Vice president of new and renewable energy authority

Session 2:

- Prof. Dr. Wael Eldegwy, Ex- Minister of higher education and scientific research.

- Ambassador/ Shahira Wahba, Deputy Manager of Environment, Housing and Water resources- League of Arab States.

- Prof. Dr. Hesham Alkassas, Dean of the Environment institute, Ain Shams University.

Session 3:

- Prof. Dr. Abdelmohsen Barrada, Ex-dean of the faculty of urban and regional planning - Cairo University

- Architect/ Hussien Algebaly- Ex-consultant of the Minister of housing and utilities and urban communities

- Prof. Dr. Samy Badreldin Serageldin, Professor of Architectural Design, Higher Institute of Engineering- Elshorouk Academy.

Specialized sessions were also carried in parallel. Three sessions were for the International Award for livable Communities, and the other three specialized sessions were named: The role of indicators and observatories in achieving the goals of sustainable development (AUDI), Resistance against climate change, and Global Release Conference of SCC Guidelines/SUC Forum.

The International Award for Livable Communities sessions were professionally moderated by:

- Prof. Dr. Yasser Sakr – Ex - President of Helwan University

- Prof. Dr. Khaled Dewidar

- Representative of International Award for livable Communities

The other three specialized sessions were moderated by:

AUDI:

- Dr. Abdullah Alsubil (AUDI) - KSA.

- Prof. Ghada Mamdouh

Resistance against climate change:

- Prof. Dr. Mahmod Abou Zaid

- Prof. Dr. Hussein El Atfy

Global Release Conference of SCC Guidelines/SUC Forum:

- Dr. Olfat Hamdy

Keynote speakers:

Every session also included keynote speakers that were distributed on the conference days

Session 1:

- Prof. Dr. Mohamed Omran - Financial regulatory authority Chairman

"The role of regulatory authorities for money markets in supporting the sustainable development goals 2030."

- Prof. Abdel Kawi Khalifa - Faculty of Engineering, Ain shams university (Egypt).

 “Sustainable Integrated Management for Water and Wastewater Sector”

- Prof. Mohammed Safiuddin, Research Professor, Emeritus, Electrical Engineering Department, University at Buffalo (USA).

“Global Renewable Energy Grid Project: Integrating Renewables via HVDC and Centralized Storage.”

Session 2:

-Prof. Dr. Ahmad Abdelhamid - University of Drexel, Philadelphia, USA

    Sustainable Design of Building Envelope

- Amb. Sha Zukang, former UN Under-Secretary-General

 “Development Processes and significance of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development “

- Dr. Ahmed Abdelreheem - The Center for Environment and Development for The Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE).

“Africa and Arab Region’s Changing Environment”

- Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Gar Elalm, ex- dean of the faculty of engineering - Mansoura University

“Political and legal arrangements for environmental assessment systems”

Session 3:

- Prof. Dr. Ashraf Salama - Head of the architectural department, University of Strathclyde, UK

    “The Triadic Relationship of Urban Qualities in Rapidly Growing Cities”

- Arab Hoballah, Chairman of LivCom Awards

“Developing Network and Building Livable Cities”

- Prof. Galal Abada- Senior advisor planning and design, MDA, KSA- Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, ASU, Egypt.

“Sustainable Urbanism in Local Contexts Towards Humanizing Public Places.”

- Engineer/ Khaled Sedeek- Executive Manager of slums development fund

- Dr. Mai Abdelhameed - Executive Manager Social housing fund and mortgage finance fund. “International Award for livable Communities1”

Other keynote speakers at the conference were:

- Ahmed Abdelreheem- Regional programme manager of knowledge management- CEDARE.

- Khaled Abozeid- Regional Water Resources Programme Manager- CEDARE.

- Dr. Tarek Abdelmoneim- Knowledge Management and Reporting Specialist (Regional Office for Arab States - ROAS).

The international award for livable communities discussed the projects:

- Kunming City

- Kunming Project

- Alexandria

- Nanniwan

- Madinah Project

- Quzhou City

- Madinah Project II

- Cheonju

- Sochi

- Jihlava

- Calgary

- Songdo

- Norwich

At the end of the awards session, Dr. Abdelaziz Sakr, IEREK's General Director thanked the participants and gave a speech about SUCI. 

Recommendations and Closing

Included awarding the prizes of the best research in each conference axis as follows:

General Dr. Ahmed Said Abdelreheem - Shorouk Academy President.

Prof. Dr. Gouda Mohamed Ghanem - Conference Chairman- Vice Chairman of El Shorouk Academy.

- Awards Ceremony of LivCom Awards

- Closing speeches:

Ms. Soha Farouk- Program Officer, the regional office of the Arab countries- United Nations Programme for Human Settlements.

Dr. Ahmed Abdelreheem- Regional manager of knowledge program. The Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE).

Dr. Abdullah Alsubil- Representative and general manager deputy of the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI).

Ambassador/ Shahira Wahba, Deputy Manager of Environment, Housing and Water resources- League of Arab States. “In which she extended her greetings and thanks to all those who contributed to the success of the conference and the role of IEREK in organizing The EBQL Conference.”

Prof. Dr. Moataz Tolba- The Secertary General of The Conference, Dean of The Higher Institute of Engineering- Elshorouk Academy.

• 1. The first axis: Water and sanitation services.

  Providing clean drinking water is considered the main core of life in any society.
  As a result of poor economic programs and fragile infrastructure, millions of people die every year- mainly children- because of diseases related to the lack of water supply and sewage services as well as hygiene. Furthermore, water scarcity, as well as its poor quality and sewage failure, are considered from the factors that affect food security, livelihood choices, and educational opportunities for poor families worldwide. By 2050, it is probable that at least one out of four people will be living in a country suffering from a chronic or frequent shortage of fresh water.

  The economic sustainability aims at ensuring an adequate supply of water and improving the efficiency of its use in agricultural, industrial, urban and rural development. The social sustainability aims at securing the access to enough water for domestic use and small agricultural projects for the poor majority. Moreover, the environmental sustainability aims at securing enough protection for watersheds, groundwater, freshwater resources and their ecological systems.

  Based on that, the researchers and scientific papers are expected to cover innovations and new trends with an indication of the applicability, as well as the best experiences and scientific practices for the following topics:

  - Increasing the efficiency of the sustainable use of water in all sectors.

  - Improving water quality to reduce pollution.

  - Integrated water resource management on all levels

  - Wastewater treatment, recycling and safe reusing of it.

  - Mechanisms for the provision of sanitation and hygiene services especially for vulnerable people.

  - Local community participation in improving water and sanitation management.

  - Capacity-building in the field of activities and programs related to water and sanitation (water collection, desalination, efficient use, wastewater treatment and recycling and reusing technologies).

  - The role of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and indicators in following up the implementation of water and sanitation plans and solid waste disposal.

  - The role of private sector in improving water and sewage services.

  - Obstacles to achieving the sixth goal of sustainable development concerning water.

• 2. The second axis: New and renewable energies.

  Energy is considered a pivotal element for every main challenge facing the world. These challenges are represented in the possibility of finding job opportunities, providing security, climate change, food production, and income increase.

  Moreover, providing sustainable energy contributes to enhancing the economy, securing ideological systems, and fulfilling fairness because sustainable energy guarantees the possibility of reaching new energy services to all, improving energy efficiency, and increasing the use of renewable energy resources in order to reduce the emissions that lead to climate change.

  Based on that, the researchers and scientific papers are expected to cover innovations and new trends with an indication to the applicability, as well as the best experiences and scientific practices, taking into consideration the international agreements concerning renewable energy projects for the following topics:

  - Providing new and renewable energies for everyone at reasonable costs.

  - Procedures took to increase the share of renewable energy and improve its efficiency.

  - Intelligent systems in areas and buildings in the application of new and renewable energy.

  - Clean and renewable energy technology and its role in promoting investment.

  - The role of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and indicators in following up the implementation of new and renewable energy plans.

  - Opportunities and mechanisms for financing renewable energy projects.

• 3. The Third axis: Climate change and its effects.

  Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have reached its peak and the resulting climate change can be attributed mainly to economic and population growth. Addressing climate change through mitigation and adaptation is vital to achieving sustainable development.

  Based on that, the researchers and scientific papers are expected to cover innovations and new trends with an indication of the applicability of the following topics:

  - Technology and behavior changes.

  - Organization and technological changes and their role in facing climate change.

  - Strategies, policies, and plans on the national level related to climate change.

  - Adaptation policies and plans that are able to face the dangers related to climate, natural disasters and reinforcing the ability to adapt to these dangers.

  - Mechanisms of limiting the environmental negative impact of cities, especially topics related to air quality and waste management.

  - Mechanisms for improving the level of effective planning and management related to climate change in local communities.

  - Integrated management for facing disasters.

  - Education, awareness, human abilities and corporate abilities for reducing climate change.

  - The role of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and indicators in following up the implementation of the plans concerning the limiting of climate change and its effects and waste disposal.

• 4. The Fourth axis: safe and sustainable Cities and human settlements.

  Nevertheless, the common challenges among cities are represented in the population explosion, insufficiency of the money required for the basic services, inappropriate housing, deteriorated infrastructure, and maintaining cities in a way that facilitates finding job opportunities, achieves prosperity, and not overstrains land and resources. To get over these challenges, new methods should be applied to help these cities in achieving recovery and growth. This could be fulfilled via improving the way the resources are used in addition to decreasing pollution and poverty in order to guarantee opportunities and that all could get the basic services, energy, and housing. 

  Based on that, the researchers and scientific papers are expected to cover innovations and new trends with an indication of the applicability of the following topics:

   

  -Support plans for positive economic, social and environmental bonds between civil areas, surrounding places and rural areas.

  -Integrated plans for cities and human settlements that achieve resource efficiency and reduce climate change and adapting to it, and the ability to face disasters.

  -Human settlements management depending on participation and sustainable integration by considering the follow-up, evaluation, and implementation of continuous urban development.

  -Developing and upgrading poor districts and slums.

  -Protecting and preserving the cultural and natural heritage.

  -Sustainable urban design.

  -Housing policies and social housing programs.

  -Availability of spaces generally, conserving it and its role in achieving social integration.

  -Green architecture, environmental urban and its effect on building sustainable urban community.

  -Ensuring having a residence and major, affordable, secure and appropriate services.

  -Using local building materials for constructing durable sustainable buildings.

  -Methods of providing sustainable, safe and affordable means of transportation.

  -Methods of improving roads safety.

  -Sustainable durable infrastructures and their role in supporting the social and economic development.

  -The relation between new and renewable energy and achieving sustainable development for human settlements.

  -The role of local industries in achieving sustainable development for human settlements.

  -Developing legislation concerning the improvement of environment and sustainable urbanism.

  -The role of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and indicators in following up the implementation of the plans of sustainable and secure human settlements and cities.

  -Biomedical engineering culture and its impact on urban sustainability.

  -Healthcare improvement methodologies.

  -Medical waste management.

*Address & location on google maps

EBQL international conference and exhibition will be held in JW Marriott Hotel Cairo, Ring Road- Mirage City- Heliopolis, Cairo Governorate, Egypt.

 

Non-Egyptian Fees:

Egyptian Fees: (Online Payment N/A)

- Delegates in any event who cancel their registration due to special circumstances for any reason will receive refunds according to the following plan and according to the number of days from the start of the event:

EXCEPTION

A refund is not possible if

- An acceptance letter has been issued (Authors only)

- The proceedings of the event have been published (Authors only)

- All matters have been finalized (accommodation/travel expenses paid for)

Visa Rejection Cases

Documents to be issued by IEREK to acquire a visa are as follows:

* Final Acceptance Letter (Authors only)

* Visa Invitation Letter

* Invoice/proof of payment

We encourage all authors and attendees to ensure their having acquired all documents (those applicable) mentioned.

* Authors: may choose to let their co-author present his/her research on his/her behalf free of charge. If the author does not have a co-author, a member of the scientific committee shall present on the author’s behalf.

* Audience members/Registrants: will only be allowed to attend another similar event of their choosing that is organized by IEREK free of charge.

The conference proceedings will be published in the “ARChive” International Journal of Science hosted on “SSRN by ELSEVIER”.

Note that:

* Publication in a book series by ''Springer'' will only be applicable to the selected papers that will be supervised by highly professional members of an International Editorial Board to ensure a high-quality publication material. Thus, such outstanding material will lead to the indexing of the series in well-known indexing databases such as 'Scopus' and 'Thomson Reuters'.

* For the selected papers to be published by ''Springer'', another revision process will be added to the selected manuscripts.

* All author participants are expected to write their manuscripts /papers using the ''ARChive'' template provided in the author instructions tab.

*Once, and if, your paper is selected for publication in ''ESSD'' or ''Springer''’s book Series, you will be contacted and asked to use the template of the selected journal accordingly

Once an abstract is submitted, it will be sent to the reviewers committee to go through the revision process:

Elementary Review:

Once an abstract has been submitted to our website, it is assigned for review by the reviewers using the abstract review sheet and validation of publication. This is based on four criteria:

• Accepted as is for publication (with minor editing changes).
• Conditionally accepted for publication (with revisions provided to authors).
• Rejected but encouraged for re-submission with major modifications.
• Rejected as inappropriate or unworthy of publication in this certain conference.

The criteria for accepting abstracts for the conference are as follows; a relevant topic of the conference should be proposed with clear writing, aims, and objectives of the study clearly presented as well as a sound literature and methodology of work.

First Acceptance:

Authors will receive a notification message to know the feedback of the reviewers committee. If an author receives the acceptance of his or her abstract, he or she has to continue writing the full-length paper using the requested templates.

Uploading Full-Length Paper:

Authors who are allowed to upload their full-length paper(s) should use the same account details to upload their full paper(s).

Second Acceptance:

The final paper will proceed to the primary revision to be checked if it meets the conference proceedings standards. Once it gets accepted, the author will be informed to pay the fees so that it could be sent for the final revision by the scientific committee.

Payment:

In this step, and to proceed paper(s) that passed to final revision process and to get the final approval, authors have to pay the requested fees. Otherwise, the final revision process will not be considered for their papers.

Inspections and Final Approval of Full Papers:

The full papers that paid the requested fees will get finally inspected, either scientifically or linguistically. There will be a rigorous review process of full papers following the previous process according to the following criteria:

(1) Is the topic relevant to the conference?

(2) Is the writing and structure clear?

(3) Are graphics, photos, illustrations used where needed?

(4) Are the aims of the study clearly stated?

(5) Are the objectives of the study achieved?

(6) Is the literature review relevant and adequate?

(7) Has the author used appropriate methodology and explained them clearly?

(8) Has the author interpreted the findings correctly?

(9) Is the paper a significant contribution to the field?

These are the registration and revision procedures for publication that all authors should follow.

- Abstracts should clearly state the purpose, results, and conclusions of the work to be described in the final paper. A maximum of a 300- word abstract is to be reviewed. 

- After you have received the acceptance of your abstract, please continue to write your full paper with the requested template please download

- To meet ELSEVIER’s instructions, make sure that your abstract in your full paper does not exceed 100 words (extra words could be moved to the introduction).

To download the full-length paper template,   Click Here!

Abstract and full paper submission instructions, Click Here

- IEREK provides you the English Review service; where we will be responsible for the language review process of your paper. This service will get your paper revised in terms of grammar, punctuation, and language structure; without changing the scientific content.

- This service will ensure you have the perfect language structure, to get your perfect paper published. This will help you increase the number of citations and make it easier for others access the information provided in your paper.

Fees for the editing process:

If you are interested in getting this service, please email us your paper on: [email protected]

- Participants:

* Ministers, governors and mayors, officials and decision makers in governments and local authorities and organizations concerned with sustainable development issuesUniversities, academics and scientific and research entities.

* Private sector representatives and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society and specialists in sustainable development fields representatives.

- Conference Events:

 The conference will hold multiple sessions discussing issues related to the environmental aspect in implementation of the sustainable development agenda through plenary sessions, scientific sessions and specialized sessions.

Plenary Sessions: consist of 6 sessions as follows:

* Opening session all attendees participate in it

* Four plenary technical sessions attendees participate in it

* Closing Session.

* Scientific Sessions:

Includes around 15 sessions discussing four main axis, (water and sanitation services, new and renewable sustainable energy and innovation encouragement, safe and sustainable Cities and human settlements, climate changes, environmental sustainability and risk reduction) to review the most important effective issues on each axis including scientific papers (reviewed by the scientific committee) in addition to experiences and best practices, to guarantee the interaction between scientists, experts, decision makers and all the concerned partners.

The conference aims to suggest and discuss new visions to reach creative solutions and effective mechanisms that could help in encountering the current and the upcoming challenges of different issues related to the environment, infrastructure, energy and construction in order to achieve sustainable development. Moreover, it aims to spread awareness with regards to sustainable development and highlight the importance of sustainable consumption by exchanging experiences, introducing pioneering experiences to show the best practices in the field of sustainable development and by scrutinizing partnerships established by educational institutions, governmental entities and stakeholders in order to benefit from scientific research in planning and developing national and domestic policies. Nevertheless, the conference accommodates the importance of the environmental dimension in monitoring and implementing the 2030 sustainable development agenda.

Since conferences are the places where new science results are typically first presented so, it helps you sharpen the saw, meet experts & influencers face to face, learning in a new space, build your knowledge base, expand your resources and grow your professional network. Yet attending conferences organized by IEREK will not only helps you gain previous benefits but also can be very rewarding on the professional level due to below reasons:

1. Open Discussions: We bring together leading academic scientists to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of smart cities development. Furthermore, you get to converse with other researchers from different universities and countries. You learn from experts in the field. It is a great opportunity to find more about your field and listen to ideas that could help inspire research ideas of your own.

2. Internationally Accredited Certificate: The participants are granted internationally recognized certificates which will be added to their certificates of experience or could be presented to the official authorities concerned.

3. Publication: The conference proceedings will be published by one or more journals since authors can choose to publish their research paper either in "ARChive" international journal of science hosted by IEREK Press or "SSRN" by "ELSEVIER". Besides, high-quality manuscripts based on scientific committee evaluation will be published either in Environmental Sciences & Sustainable Development (ESSD) by IEREK Press or a book series by "Springer".

4. Research Technologies: Conferences also can expand your resources by providing a great opportunity to promote gathered information on new technologies related to your research. Moreover, they let you test them out, share teaching tools and techniques, or even obtain samples of textbooks.

5. Networking: Conferences help in networking which often increases your chances of collaboration in future projects. As you can engage with respectable professors and discuss with them the very latest research projects they could be working on.

6. Academic Reputation: Attending many conferences will make you a known figure in academic circles, not to mention the benefits for your C.V as it will create an impression that you are an active member of the academic community.

7. Conference Proceedings Material: Delegates will have the choice of receiving the conference proceedings as either a hardcover book or in digital format on a CD. The CD will additionally contain proceedings from previous conferences in this series.

8. Venue: Getting an overview of the place or city where the conference is being held and learning about its people and culture.

Moreover, all conference papers are archived online in the E-Library of IEREK‘s website where they are immediately and permanently available to the international scientific community.

For more information click here 

For participants who need Entry Visas, IEREK will issue a visa letter for applicants who are accepted to present at our conferences.

Please notice that we will endeavor to assist you in obtaining a visa but the responsibility is yours and the decision rests solely with the appropriate Embassy.

For more information click here 

The International Sustainable Challenge For Liveable Communities 
The International Awards For Liveable Communities  

“The International Sustainable Challenge for Liveable Communities/the SusCom Challenge” is an international forum and a platform for exchange, aiming to identify best practices of local environment management and share practices of cities and communities in building livable cities and promoting sustainable development. The goal of the SusCom Challenge is advancing implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda in cities and communities around the world, with the further objective of improving the quality of life of individual citizens.

Jointly launched by the LivCom Committee and the SUC Institute, the SusCom Challenge is born from the International Awards for Liveable Communities/ LivCom Awards founded in 1997 and the Sustainable Urban Development and Liveable Garden Community Programme/SUC Programme launched in 2009. They are respectively widely-recognized high-level international awards and benchmark programme focusing on “liveable communities” and “sustainable cities and communities”. Both global initiatives are in collaboration and supported by the UN System (such as UNEP and UNOSD, etc), committed to identifying best practices of “livable communities” and “sustainable cities and communities” through dialogues and exchange events such as holding “high-level forum”, “special workshop” and “awards competition” as well as further developing and sharing international best standards. The 2018 SusCom Challenge will be held in collaboration with the EBQL Organizing Committee during 13-15 December in Cairo Egypt, in conjunction with the first International Conference on Sustainability.

Participation in the competition and awards further improves the international profile of cities, communities and projects and gives the opportunity to learn from the best practices and knowledge of other cities and communities in the areas of local environment management and SDG implementation. The SusCom Challenge is non-political, non-profit, embracing all nations and cultures. Participation is free of charge, no registration fee or judging fee required.

For participation in 2018 SusCom Challenge, please contact [email protected].

for participation Or any inquiries [email protected]

Judging methods:

Cities and communities participating in the SusCom Challenge should submit application documents according to different categories. The submission should elaborate on practices in the areas of livable cities and sustainable development in line with the judging criteria (the characters of submission should be no more than 3000 or no more than 4500, exclusive of headlines, forms and headers and with 12 to 24 photographs). The deadline for submission is Sep. 30, 2018. In particular cases, certain cities and communities may submit the documents before Oct. 15.

An independent panel of judges will review the submissions. Excellent applicants will receive the “Good Practice Award of the SusCom Challenge” and be invited to attend the EBQL conference and present their cases on related technical seminars. Meanwhile, they will be invited to take part in the SusCom Challenge conference to make presentations. It should be noted that cities and communities with diverse population and cultures also have different structures and responsibilities. If a particular criterion does not fall into the responsibility of a certain city or community, the city or the community should state in its submission and during presentation of the SusCom Challenge how it make positive impacts on the policy regarding the area in virtue of proper opportunities.

Cities and projects participating in the SusCom Challenge conference will be invited to make presentations in the finals of the “LivCom Awards” and the finals of the “Sustainable Awards” according to different categories and characteristics. Invitation for the SusCom Challenge will be sent in October with procedures and the do’s and don’ts listed in the letter. Those invited need to prepare presentations for the finals according to further requirements during November to December. Based on different categories, the duration of presentations is from 35 minutes to 55 minutes (during the Presentation, a digital video disc may be included, in English, of 5 to 10 minutes duration. Use of other visual aids, e.g. PowerPoint, is encouraged. A projection system will be provided.). A maximum of three representatives from your city or community will be able to make the Presentation, plus an English interpreter if required. At the end of each Presentation, the Judges will ask questions.

The International Panel of Judges comprises professionals in environmental and sustainable sectors, who will operate in teams to assess cities and communities.

The winners of SusCom Challenge Finals will be announced during the closing banquet. 

Judging criteria:

1. Enhancement of the Landscapes and Public Spaces

Landscapes, in the context of the Awards, are the aspects of the City and Townscape, which create an environment enhanced through horticultural and infrastructure designs, in particular including public spaces such as gardens, parks and squares. The Submission should describe the key features or vision of the community’s landscape, and demonstrate how landscaping and public spaces in a community has brought together all of the distinct elements, both built and natural, so as to establish a sympathetic relationship between the built and natural landscape. LivCom seeks evidence of the protection of the natural heritage and of ecologically important sites, biodiversity and introduction of vegetation in more difficult environments. This section should demonstrate how the landscape in your community has been enhanced to create an environment that generates civic pride, facilitates enjoyable recreational experiences and improves the quality of life within your community.

2. Arts, Culture and Heritage Management

This section should demonstrate how the community values and embodies its own unique culture through recognition of its languages, its unique arts and craft and cultural practices within their way of life and how it values its heritage both in its buildings and monuments and its spiritual places or historic events through recognition, interpretation and protection. This may be with original cultures or new individual cultures within multicultural populations. Festivals and events often celebrate these dimensions or become part of the culture itself. It should demonstrate how these groups are included within society generally. LivCom seeks to evaluate how well the arts in all their forms are generally encouraged and recognised through public exposure, community celebration and support.

3. Environmental Protection and Green Economy

This section should demonstrate how the community has adopted innovative environmentally sensitive practices and pursues initiatives that result in sustainable management of the environment as well as develop green economy consciously to realize industrial transition towards environmental-friendly direction. Evidence should be included which demonstrates that the community is involved in efforts to apply sustainable development and to promote best practices that lead to the development, conservation and preservation of the environment. This would include the enhancement of the quality of air, water and land, biodiversity, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the consumption of natural resources through use of alternative materials and sources of energy and recycling.

4. Community Participation and Empowerment

This section should demonstrate the method and style of ongoing involvement of individuals, groups and Organisations in the planning, development and management of the local community, and how the local community is empowered and reacts to the opportunity of being involved in its development. Components of this section will include integration, development, satisfaction, resources and involvement.

5. Healthy Lifestyle

This section will need to demonstrate a clear understanding of the health issues that affect communities, supported by appropriate research and a commitment to making improvements. A track record of achievement in tackling these health issues will be necessary for example indicating the provision of facilities and lifestyle programmes, targeted towards improving the health of the community. Reviews of the successful implementation of these facilities and programmes would enhance the credibility of the submissions in this criterion. At the same time, lifestyle should reflect the improvement of residents’ living standards, residents’ initiative to reduce carbon emissions and enhancement of the city’s cohesiveness. They should actively participate in recreational, sports and cultural activities (especially festival celebrations, carnivals, etc.), and further examples should be taken to reflect positivity of the community.

6. Sustainable Planning and Management Policies

This section should demonstrate how the community determines its future and maintain sustainability as well as what planning processes are developed and how they align to create action plans to deliver the stated outcomes that the community desires via making management policies. A sense of hierarchy in the plans or strategies themselves should be demonstrated, and evidence included that the plans are being implemented through an annual plan together with a review process. Evidence should be shown that demonstrates that the general members of the community support the strategic direction and have had an opportunity to contribute to it, in order to reflect the plans and management policies are targeted at provide services for the public and improve their living quality.

In the context of environmental changes facing countries of the world, there’s a growing need for new visions for dealing with sustainable development to improve quality of life. There is also a need for preserving natural resources and sustaining them for future generations, which makes the focus on the environmental aspect a crucial and important matter.

In light of the adoption of sustainable development goals for 2030 in the United Nations summit that was held in New York city in 2015 and its results, a new phase of development is ongoing all over the world. It is represented by the start of the implementation of the 2030 sustainable development agenda globally, regionally and nationally.

In the framework of the scientific role of the higher institute of Engineering in Elshorouk city in Egypt in terms of sustainable development and scientific research, the institute has contributed to finding new visions to help executive authorities and concerned organizations in facing problems and challenges of sustainable development especially those related to the environment through different partnerships. Based on that, the institute received the approval of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to hold the institute’s first international conference.

The League of Arab States and the concerned United Nations organizations put the executive framework for the environmental aspect of the 2030 plan for sustainable development and made partnerships between scientific organizations and concerned stakeholders. The higher institute of engineering in Elshorouk city is therefore holding and organizing its first international conference on Sustainability: Environmental Efficiency for a Better Quality of Life under the auspices of the League of Arab States, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Arab Urban Development Institute from the 13^th to the 15^th of December 2018.

Elshorouk Academy is pleased to invite you to this international conference organized in partnership with The Ministry of Higher Education, The League of Arab States,  The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, and The Arab Urban Development Institute.

• Organizers:

-The partners in organizing the conference with the Higher Institute of Engineering- Arab Republic of Egypt:

* League of Arab States (Economic Sector/ Environment, Housing and Water Resources Management).

* United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Regional Office for Arab states.

* The Arab Urban Development Institute.

* In coordination with some national authorities in the Arab Republic of Egypt:

* Ministry of higher education and scientific research.

* Ministry of environmental affairs.

* Ministry of electricity and energy.

* Ministry of housing, utilities, and urban communities.